The Starke Land and Lumber Company Sawmill

Starke Sawmill in Arcadia

Henry Starke built this sawmill at the north end of Lake Arcadia to produce lumber for the Starke Land and Lumber Company.

Henry Starke

Busy Day at the Starke Sawmill

This photo shows the view looking west at the Starke sawmill. Note the train pulling logs and the horse & cart apparently waiting for the

train to pass.

The Basket Factory

Lumber was not the only product of the Starke sawmill. This photo shows construction on the end of the sawmill to build a basket factory.

Starke Story

Manistee County Directory of 1883

Early Arcadia Furniture Factory

This is an early photo of the

Arcadia Furniture Factory

looking southeast. Construction

on the factory began in late

1906 after a deal was worked

out with the Fox & Mason

Furniture Co. of Corunna,

Michigan. -- Postcard

photograph. Unknown

photographer.

Sawmill Location Furniture Factory

These blueprints from 1930

show the "Log Drag" at the

bottom center of the diagram.

This was used to move logs from

the lake to the sawmill part of

the plant, the first step in "From

Forest to Furniture."

Selecting Logs

Posing on the left is a New York

buyer. On the right is Charles

Weldt, the “woodsman” for the

Arcadia Furniture Company.

Log Rule and Detail

A log rule was used to estimate the board feet included in a log based on log's diameter as measured

.by the log rule, quality that determined which set of numbers to use, and the log's length

Furniture

Furniture Factory Sawmill Workers

On the far left is New York buyer

Bill Flusser touring the sawmill.

Second from the left is Robert Starke, the president of the Arcadia Furniture Company,

who was “proudly showing the

plant’s operations to the buyers

from N.Y.C.” On the right in front

is Maurice St. Pierre. The other

people in the photo are not

identified. Note the specialized

equipment used for handling

log

Arcadia Lumber Company Sawmill

This view is from the north end of Lake Arcadia looking south. The Arcadia Lumber Company's sawmill is on the left in an area known today as "the point." The channel to Lake Michigan is

behind the sawmill and to the

right.

Arcadia Lumber Company Crew

This is a closer view of the north

end of the sawmill. John Grund

managed the mill, so locals

referred to it as the "Grund Mill."

John Grund is fourth from the

lower right.

View East with Schooner

Many schooners like this one

were used to haul lumber all

over the Great Lakes. Postcard

Photograph.

The L. L. Cook Co., Milwaukee.

Annual reports show the mill closed soon after the death of John Grund on August 26, 1916.

Sydney O. Neff

The steam barge shown here

docked along the northeast

shore of Lake Arcadia is the

Sydney O. Neff, a work horse

that hauled lumber primarily for

the Arcadia Lumber Company.